Healthy Banana Protein Muffins
Quick, easy, and healthy banana protein muffins made completely gluten-free. Packed with protein from greek yogurt and protein powder, and baked into soft, sweet, nutritious muffins!
What Makes This Recipe Great
A healthy muffin?! While that seems like a contradiction, this delicious recipe is proof that muffins can indeed be healthy! A simple, easy muffin batter transformed into light and fluffy banana protein muffins in just 30 minutes.
Even better, these tasty treats are a freezer-friendly, make-ahead breakfast or snack for kids and adults! Packed with protein powder, greek yogurt, gluten-free flour, and natural sweeteners, these ooey gooey chocolatey muffins are healthy without tasting healthy. Ya know what I mean?! Let’s get baking!
If you love tasty recipes that are packed with protein try my protein pancakes, this protein mug cake, or my new protein-baked oatmeal!
Recipe Highlights
- Added Protein: Rather than empty calories, carbs, and sugar, these scrumptious banana muffins are packed with protein to give that needed nutrition in a delicious way!
- Quick & Easy: Simple ingredients and 30 minutes is all you need!
- Healthy: Made without any refined sugar or gluten, these delicious muffins are a healthy breakfast or snack!
- Kid-Friendly: Keep a stash in the freezer for an easy, on-the-go breakfast for you or the kids. Everyone will love them!
Ingredient Notes
- King Arthur gluten-free 1:1 flour: You can substitute this for Bob’s Red Mill or another brand, but make sure it’s “measure for measure” or 1:1 flour. If you aren’t gluten-free, you can substitute all-purpose wheat flour, if desired. Keep in mind that these will not be as “healthy”.
- protein powder: I like Be Well by Kelly in vanilla. But you can use whey protein or whichever brand is your favorite.
- flax seed meal
- coconut sugar
- maple syrup
- ripe bananas: These don’t have to be as ripe as bananas you’d use for banana bread, but the riper the better!
- egg: Let your egg get to room temperature before mixing it into the muffin batter.
- plain Greek yogurt: You can use full-fat or non-fat, depending on your preference and nutritional needs.
- vanilla extract
- dark chocolate chips: I like Enjoy Life or Hu chocolate chips.
- baking powder
- salt
Recipe Step by Step
- Preheat oven to 375. Spray a muffin tin with oil or line it with muffin liners.
- Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, protein powder, and flax seed meal) in a small mixing bowl and mix.
- Combine the sugar, mashed bananas, egg, greek yogurt, and vanilla in a large bowl and mix well.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir. Add the chocolate chips and fold them into the mixture.
- Spoon into the muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool for a few minutes before removing. Serve with a shmear of peanut butter, if desired!
Swaps & Substitutions
- Feel free to omit the chocolate chips if desired. Instead, add some chopped walnuts or blueberries, or whatever muffin mix-in is your favorite.
- For dairy-free, swap the greek yogurt for a non-dairy yogurt option and use a dairy-free protein powder. You can also use 1/2 cup applesauce, although this will lower the amount of protein in the recipe.
- For vegan muffins, you can try an egg replacement like Bob’s Red Mill or a flax egg. Use a vegan protein powder as well.
- For an added chocolate-y flavor, use chocolate protein powder instead of vanilla.
Serving Tips
- Serve these banana protein muffins warm on their own, or with a bit of peanut butter for some extra protein. I also love them cold out of the refrigerator!
Storage Tips
- Store leftover muffins in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature, or a week in the refrigerator.
- To freeze, let the protein banana muffins cool completely, and store them in an airtight, freezer-safe container. You can thaw them overnight in the refrigerator or warm them up in the microwave for about 20 seconds.
Recipe FAQs
These protein banana muffins can get dry if too much protein powder is added. Make sure to follow the recipe as written. Baking is a science and too much moisture (or not enough!) can really mess things up!
There are 7 grams of protein in each muffin!
Boxes of muffin mix are measured and tested with the exact ingredients listed on the box. If you add extra dry ingredients, they could turn out dry. Unless you are a skilled baker and know how to adjust the wet ingredients to offset the added protein powder, I would recommend not doing this.
You could! The cooking times would need to be adjusted accordingly, as muffins bake much faster than a loaf. If you try this, let me know how it turns out in the comments!
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Healthy Banana Protein Muffins
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups King Arthur Gluten Free 1:1 Flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp protein powder
- 1 tbsp flax seed meal
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 3 ripe bananas
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375. Spray a muffin tin with oil or line with liners.
- Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, protein powder and flax seed meal) in a small bowl and mix.
- Combine the sugar, bananas, egg, greek yogurt, and vanilla in another bowl and mix well.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir. Add the chocolate chips and fold them into the mixture.
- Spoon into the muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool for a few minutes before removing. Serve with a shmear of peanut butter, if desired!
Video
Notes
Swaps & Substitutions
- Feel free to omit the chocolate chips if desired. Instead, add some chopped walnuts or blueberries, or whatever muffin mix-in is your favorite.
- For dairy-free, swap the greek yogurt for a non-dairy yogurt option and use a dairy-free protein powder.
- For vegan muffins, you can try an egg replacement like Bob’s Red Mill or a flax egg. Use a vegan protein powder as well.
- For an added chocolate-y flavor, use chocolate protein powder instead of vanilla.
Serving Tips
- Serve these muffins warm on their own, or with a bit of peanut butter for some extra protein. I also love them cold out of the refrigerator!
Storage Tips
- Store leftover muffins in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature, or a week in the refrigerator.
- To freeze, let the protein banana muffins cool completely, and store them in an airtight, freezer-safe container. You can thaw them overnight in the refrigerator or warm them up in the microwave for about 20 seconds.
33 Comments on “Healthy Banana Protein Muffins”
These were so delicious and so easy to make (like most of MWL things!)
Since I’m not allergic to gluten (I just try to limit it) I opted for oat flour instead of GF flour, and it turned out great. I just did about 1/4 less than the amount it called for. Freezing these for postpartum and so grateful for so many wonderful recipes!
So glad it worked for you with oat flour!! Thanks Courtney!
These are delicious! Made and froze them for easy breakfast postpartum. Need to make some more!
Thanks Shelly!
So delicious! I’ve been trying all sorts of breakfast bars, muffins, etc. to help with the morning rush or after school snack and these are the WINNER! Yummy and not overloaded with carbs – a perfect combination of carbs, protein and fat to start the day or help with the afternoon slump. Thank you!
So glad you love them! Thanks!
These are SO GOOD! I didn’t have flaxseed meal so I used a little almond flour instead. Can’t even believe these are “healthy.” Definitely found my new banana muffin recipe!
Hi Alli, I am so glad to hear you loved them!
These are so good! My family couldn’t believe they were gf/df!
Yay! So glad to hear it 🙂
These muffins are SO delicious and extremely easy to make!! I have been making them weekly for the past month for an easy breakfast. Husband and 3 year old approved, too!
Thanks!!
Love this recipe! We make it weekly. Baby, toddler, big kid, and adult approved 🙂
Thank you Kyla!!
My kids LOVE these and I love that I have a quick healthy option to give them for snacks!
We are dairy and egg free so I used SO-Delicious coconut yogurt , a flax egg, and plant based protein powder and it turned out great!!!
I had to hide them because little hands kept grabbing for more 🙂
Will make this on repeat!
So glad you were able to make them egg and dairy free! Thank you!
These are amazing protein muffins! So delicious. I didn’t have any Greek yogurt so I used buttermilk instead and they turned out great!! Will be making these again!
Awesome, thank you!
These muffins are full of great ingredients, easy to make, and crazy delicious! Yet another amazing recipe by Mary😋😋
Thank you Cindy!
I have made these twice now and love them. They are simple, quick, and usually ingredients you already have on hand.
I’ve made them with both chocolate and vanilla protein powder and they taste great both ways.
*The second time around I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup and liked that sweetness. I also did not have greek yogurt so used cashew milk cream cheese and some almond milk and the replacement worked great.
thanks for sharing, Marie! Glad you made them work for you 🙂
These are really good! I used 1/2 cup applesauce in place of Greek yogurt to keep them dairy free and there was no issue with that swap.I will definitely make these again. I’ve tried several of Mary’s recipes and they have all been great!
thank you, Susan!
These were fantastic! I’ve tried a few banana muffin recipes and this one is now at the top. Selfishly was making them for myself this week, assuming my boys wouldn’t be fans…they’re half gone and I made them this morning 😁 love finding new muffin recipes everyone likes!
So delicious! I’ve tried a lot of banana muffin recipes and these are my kids favorite!
These muffins are literally the yummiest I have had using healthy ingredients. You will not regret making them!!
Thank you Jamie! I appreciate your review 🙂
Love! Great for breakfast and snack. Kid and toddler approved as well.
thanks Holly!!
These are great 😊 love that they have the extra protein as well and they have a great texture. Always love your recipes!!
Thank you, Hannah!!
These a great 😊 love that they have the extra protein as well and they have a great texture. Always love your recipes!!